1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing method and a developing apparatus for a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a photolithography process in the semiconductor device fabrication processes, for example, a resist coating treatment in which a resist solution is applied to the front of a wafer to form a resist film thereon, exposure processing in which the wafer is exposed in a pattern, a developing treatment in which development is performed for the exposed wafer, and the like are performed in sequence to form a predetermined circuit pattern on the wafer.
In the above-described developing treatment, a so-called scan method has been conventionally employed in which a developing solution supply nozzle which is formed longer than a diameter of the wafer and has a plurality of supply ports along its longitudinal direction moves at a predetermined speed from one end to the other end of the wafer while supplying the developing solution at a predetermined flow rate, thereby supplying the developing solution to the entire face of the wafer to perform the developing treatment for the wafer.
When the above-described scan method is used, it is preferable to increase the moving speed of the developing solution supply nozzle and the supply flow rate of the developing solution as much as possible in the viewpoint of matching as much as possible start times of development within the face of the wafer. However, when the moving speed of the developing solution supply nozzle or the like is too high, a so-called waviness phenomenon occurs in which waves appear on the developing solution supplied on the substrate. It is known that if the waviness phenomenon occurs, development is not properly performed, finally causing adverse effects upon the form of the pattern. Therefore, it is necessary to tightly fine-adjust and set the moving speed or the like of the developing solution supply nozzle to an adequate speed.
When the recipe for the wafer is changed and so on, an operator corrects the moving speed or the supply flow rate by measuring the line width or the like which is finally formed on the wafer, predicting more suitable conditions from the measured value based on his experience and the like, and changing the moving speed or the like by hand each time.
However, the corrections of the moving speed and the like of the developing solution supply nozzle which are performed by the measurement of the finally formed line width or the like on the wafer and by hand of the operator as described above requires a considerably long time before the moving speed is changed to an adequate speed, causing harmful effects of, for example, fabricating many wafers of poor quality during the above time.
The present invention is made in the above viewpoints, and its object is to provide a developing method capable of making corrections earlier for an adequate supply condition of a developing solution to prevent occurrence of excessive waves on a solution face of the developing solution while matching as much as possible periods of development within the face of the substrate, and a developing apparatus capable of carrying out the developing method.
To attain the object, the developing method of the present invention is a method of supplying a developing solution to an entire face of a substrate to perform a developing treatment, comprising the steps of: moving a developing solution supply nozzle at a predetermined speed at least from one end to another end of the substrate while the developing solution is being supplied; measuring an amplitude of a wave on a solution face of the developing solution supplied on the substrate after the supply of the developing solution; and changing the predetermined speed of the developing solution supply nozzle based on a measured value. It should be noted that xe2x80x9cafter the supply of the developing solutionxe2x80x9d means xe2x80x9cafter the developing solution is supplied onto the substrate,xe2x80x9d but it is more preferable to perform the aforesaid step immediately after the supply. Further, changing the predetermined speed means changing the setting of the predetermined speed to change the predetermined speed when the developing solution is supplied to a substrate which will be subjected to a developing treatment next.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the developing method of the present invention is a method of supplying a developing solution to an entire face of a substrate to perform a developing treatment, comprising the steps of: moving a developing solution supply nozzle at a predetermined speed at least from one end to another end of the substrate while the developing solution is being supplied; measuring an amplitude of a wave on a solution face of the developing solution supplied on the substrate after the supply of the developing solution; and changing a predetermined flow rate of the developing solution from the developing solution supply nozzle based on a measured value. Changing the predetermined flow rate means changing the setting of the predetermined flow rate to change the predetermined flow rate when the developing solution is supplied to the substrate which will be subjected to a developing treatment next.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the developing method of the present invention is a method of supplying a developing solution to an entire face of a substrate to perform a developing treatment, comprising the step of: moving a developing solution supply nozzle at a predetermined speed at least from one end to another end of the substrate while the developing solution is being supplied, wherein the moving speed is increased or a supply amount from the developing solution supply nozzle is decreased when the developing solution immediately after being supplied flows ahead in a moving direction of the developing solution supply nozzle during the move.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, the developing method of the present invention is a method of supplying a developing solution to an entire face of a substrate to perform a developing treatment, comprising the step of: moving a developing solution supply nozzle at a predetermined speed at least from one end to another end of the substrate while the developing solution is being supplied, wherein the moving speed is decreased or a supply amount from the developing solution supply nozzle is increased when the supplied developing solution is thinner, at a rear position with respect to a moving direction of the developing solution supply nozzle, than a part thereof which has been previously supplied during the move.
The developing apparatus of the present invention is a developing apparatus for supplying a developing solution to an entire face of a substrate to perform a developing treatment, comprising: a developing solution supply nozzle for supplying the developing solution to the substrate while moving at a predetermined speed at least from one end to another end of the substrate; an amplitude measuring device for measuring an amplitude of a wave on a solution face of the developing solution supplied on the substrate; and a moving speed controller for controlling the predetermined speed of the developing solution supply nozzle based on a value measured by the amplitude measuring device.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the developing apparatus of the present invention is a developing apparatus for supplying a developing solution to an entire face of a substrate to perform a developing treatment, comprising: a developing solution supply nozzle for supplying the developing solution to the substrate while moving at a predetermined speed at least from one end to another end of the substrate; an amplitude measuring device for measuring an amplitude of a wave on a solution face of the developing solution supplied on the substrate; and a flow rate controller for controlling a predetermined flow rate of the developing solution from the developing solution supply nozzle based on a value measured by the amplitude measuring device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the developing apparatus of the present invention is a developing apparatus for supplying a developing solution to an entire face of a substrate to perform a developing treatment, comprising: a developing solution supply nozzle for supplying the developing solution to the substrate while moving at a predetermined speed at least from one end to another end of the substrate; an amplitude measuring device for measuring an amplitude of a wave on a solution face of the developing solution supplied on the substrate; and a controller for controlling a predetermined flow rate of the developing solution from the developing solution supply nozzle and the predetermined speed of the developing solution supply nozzle based on a value measured by the amplitude measuring device.
According to the present invention, the amplitude of the wave occurring on the solution face of the developing solution supplied onto the substrate is measured, and the predetermined speed of the developing solution supply nozzle is changed based on the measured value. Thus, it is unnecessary to measure the line width or the like which is finally formed on the substrate and then correct the predetermined speed based on the measured value as in the conventional art. Therefore, it is possible to supply the developing solution at the predetermined speed adequate, for example, for the substrate which will be subjected to a developing treatment next, with the result that the predetermined speed can be corrected to the adequate predetermined speed earlier. Further, the amplitude of the wave of the developing solution is measured, and the predetermined speed or the predetermined flow rate of the developing solution supply nozzle is changed based on the measured value. This makes it possible to decrease, for example, the predetermined speed adequately or to decrease the supply amount when the amplitude of the wave is large so as to decrease the amplitude the wave, or to increase the predetermined speed adequately or to increase the supply amount when the amplitude of the wave is small so as to match the periods of development within the face of the substrate.